Taller Than Shaquille O’Neal, Yao Ming and Victor Wembanyama, 7’7 NCAA Star Is the Next Big Thing

Every critic and fan of the college basketball circuit had their eyes on Olivier Rioux when he decided to join the Florida men’s basketball team for the 2024-25 season. There were more bugles for his height than his talent as the 17-year-old announced his decision via Instagram. But who is Olivier Rioux?

Rioux is the tallest teenager in the world as per The Guinness Book of World Records, a feat he has been holding since December 2020. His 7 foot 7 inches height will definitely benefit Florida that will have an efficient center in their ranks. But is he the league of his only kind in the basketball world?  

Rookie Rioux in comparison with other tall centers

Rioux is taller than the current tallest player in the NCAA Division 1 basketball who is Jamarion Sharp of the University of Mississippi. Sharp is 7 foot 5 inches and weighs 235 pounds. He transferred to the Ole Miss from the Kentucky post the 2022-23 season and got a game time of 21 minutes in their recent match against the Alabama State Hornets.

Rioux is also taller than the San Antonia Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama. Victor is 7’4” and like other tall players is specialized in offense and defence. He has a whopping average of 8.5 rebounds and an astounding 18.8 points. In addition to that, Victor has a free throw percentage of 79.1 % which is enough to list his athletics.

Another player that comes to mind when tall basketball players are remembered is the Houston Rockets centre Yao Ming. Ming is quite close to Rioux since he was 7 foot 6 inches and weighed 310 pounds at the time of NBA. Similar to all centers he was great at rebounding and had an average of 9.2 rebounds per contest. Ming was also efficient in scoring with 19 points per game. But he had frequent injuries, suffered from osteomyelitis and also broke a bone in his left foot and right knee.

It is quite common for tall players to have difficulties in coordinating their athleticism with the weight that comes along tall height and thus are often bound for injuries.

The third player that comes to mind is the NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq was 7 foot 1 inches and weighed 325 pounds. He was a center that every basketballer looked forward to learn from and had won 4x NBA Championships. The Hall Of Famer averaged an amazing 23.7 points with an astounding 10.9 rebounds per game.

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Rioux is 300 pounds and is quite close to challenging Purdue’s Zach Edey who is 305 pounds as the heaviest player in the league. Previously, Edey was also compared to Shaq.

How’s Rioux’s gameplay?

As per Fan Nation, Rioux is known for an offensive play as he continues to ply his skill mostly above the rim at the IMG Academy. He can also be a great defensive player due to his height that could help him cover the opponents and also rebound a lot of shots by reaching near the hoop where others find it difficult.

There will be multiple open spots by the end of 2023-24 season since their forward Tyrese Samuel will depart and forward EJ Jarvis will retire. Rioux will certainly be an essential player for the team under these conditions. He would be joining his peer and Gators’ shooting guard Isaiah Brown in the 2024 since the latter also committed to Florida on Wednesday.

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Fans and critics would be waiting for his debut to see if the world’s tallest teenager stands tall in one of the most popular college basketball leagues.